NEWARK, NJ — HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES, who represents Brooklyn, paid an oversight visit Sunday morning to Delaney Hall in New Jersey, following protests that turned riotous the previous day. That detainee center, which Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates, was the site of clashes between protesters and law enforcement on Friday and Saturday.
Jeffries, who was part of a Congressional delegation that included New Jersey congressmembers Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Josh Gottheimer, released a statement on Sunday morning, denouncing what he called inhumane conditions at the detention center.
Jeffries alleged that the Trump administration broke a promise to target violent felons who are in the U.S. illegally, by instead targeting “American citizens and “law-abiding members of their community, including several tax-paying small business owners and an 18-year old DREAMer who was ripped away from her family just months from her high school graduation.”
Jeffries called for Delaney Hall to be closed down permanently. Meanwhile, McIver has faced a protracted battle following charges that the Justice Department brought against her in a May 2025 protest at Delaney Hall. She has argued that the Constitution’s “speech-or-debate clause” protects her from legal liability as a member of Congress who is conducting legislative work, the New York Times reported in April.
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